TCA names 20 ‘Best Fleets’

Truckload Carriers Association and CarriersEdge announced the 2012 winners of Best Fleets to Drive For, a contest and survey that identifies North American for-hire trucking companies that provide the best workplace experiences for their drivers.

This year’s winners are:

  • Best Cartage – Kernersville, N.C.
  • Bison Transport – Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • Boyd Bros. Transportation, Inc. – Clayton, Ala.
  • Celadon Canada – Kitchener, Ontario
  • D.J. Knoll Transportation – White City, Saskatchewan
  • Don Hummer Trucking – Oxford, Iowa
  • Erb Group – New Hamburg, Ontario
  • Fremont Contract Carriers – Fremont, Neb.
  • Gordon Trucking Inc. – Pacific, Wash.
  • Grand Island Express – Grand Island, Neb.
  • Kriska Holdings – Prescott, Ontario
  • Landstar System – Jacksonville, Fla.
  • Motor Carrier Services – Northwood, Ohio
  • Paramount Freight Systems – Ft. Myers, Fla.
  • Sammons Trucking – Missoula, Mont.
  • Steelman Transportation Inc. – Springfield, Mo.
  • Tennant Truck Lines – Orion, Ill.
  • Trimac Transportation – Houston, Texas
  • WTI Transport Inc. – Tuscaloosa, Ala.
  • Yanke Group – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

In addition, five companies have been identified as “Fleets to Watch” (honorable mentions) for demonstrating innovation in their driver programs:

  • American Central Transport – Liberty, Mo.
  • Epes Transport System Inc. – Greensboro, N.C.
  • Liberty Linehaul Inc. – Ayr, Ontario
  • Melton Truck Lines – Tulsa, Okla.
  • TimeLine Logistic International – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Nominated fleets were evaluated against a scoring matrix covering categories such as total compensation package, health benefits, pension plans, annual driver turnover rate and efforts to improve it, and fleet safety record.

Best practices that surfaced from this year’s winning fleet interviews include more fleets offering drivers profit sharing as part of their compensation packages. Also, fleets appear to be replacing their traditional safety-based bonus systems for more comprehensive programs. Today’s drivers are also being rewarded for their performance in areas such as fuel efficiency, on-time deliveries and maintaining current training.

The survey found company drivers are driving the same number of miles and earning about the same income as the previous year.

For owner operators, miles are also flat, but income has increased by 5 percent. “One might think that as the economy improves, a driver might earn more, but, surprisingly, these statistics appear to show otherwise,” said Mark Murrell, Carriers Edge president.

Next phase of the contest is to announce the highest scoring fleets from each of two categories: Best Overall Fleet for Owner Operators and Best Overall Fleet for Company Drivers, sponsored by Marsh Inc. Winners will be named at the TCA Annual Convention, March 4-7.

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